Since EK went double daily I've travelled the route 3 times, and all flights were at least 95% full in economy. I always flew from MAN on the evening flight (A332) and returned on the midday flight, which at the time was also an A332.
I thought that flight was now operated by a B772 and not a B773 as the title of this thread suggests, but I could be wrong. Maybe someone can confirm this.

As for the evening flight from MAN, it offers the best connections onto SIN (why I flew it) and also to Australia and New Zealand

The title indicates that the service is now operated by the newly delivered B777-300ER & not the A330-200 or B777-200.

The best connections to the Far East are offered by the lunchtime flight EK017/018 (the one in question) as arrival into DXB is around midnight and most of the Far East departures are in the early hours of the morning ex-DXB.

Both services in and out of MAN usually operate with at least 80% capacity and the B777-300ER will be as near as full most days. A three class service is also offered which is an additional incentive for those wishing to travel in First right through their connecting journey, compared to the evening Business and Economy choice only onboard the A330-200.

A step in the right direction for EK as far as I am concerned, although I just hope their service and comfort is up to the same standard of Qatar Airways who for example, provide a First Class seat on some of their A330-200's into MAN for the cost of a Business Class ticket - a fantastic marketing strategy!

Both the EK flights from MAN have high loads with the afternoon one being the most in demand.

The rep came into see me the other day and dropped off some brochures about the new B777-300ER aircraft, it looks very nice but the business class
still lacks when compared to other airlines.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were to either put on a third daily eventually or wait and put the A380 on.

The rep from Qatar Airways also came to see me and he confirmed the addition of a fifth weekly flight from February 2006 with further plans to daily by April 2006.

Other news is that Etihad Airways are planning to serve MAN from early next year, but as yet this is a rumour which has been going on for a while.
However they have advertised for sales executives for the north west int he trade press so I think it's only a matter of time.

But with all this competition, plus the big increase by other airlines in serving India EK seems to be doing ok and have dropped their prices.

I have never found EK's fares that cheap at all, but rather among the most expensive. As just one example, when I recently looked for LON-BOM-LON, the cheapest was BA at £399 - with EK's fare being £780.70. GF's fare was £400.

"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."

EK017/18 is regularly at 95%, even with the 773A which EK had to send in on several occasions prior to the 773ER being delivered.

The 773ER offers a payload advantage on the route which the 773A lacks, namely cargo uplift. EK are having a number of minor EIS issues with the 773ER, mainly just teething troubles which should work themselves out before long. It's the higher MTOW which EK are using on the 773ER rather than its range at the moment.

DXB-MAN-DXB is planned for A380 service at some stage, again cargo being the driving factor. EK Cargo is growing every bit as fast as passenger service.

EK019/20 as mentioned provides good onward connectivity to Asian markets and is similarly timed to the MH departures. It's a convenient time for people doing business to arrive in Asia or return there, in a similar fashion to the way evening flights departing the USA for Europe are popular.

Quoting Airsnaps (Reply 3):A three class service is also offered which is an additional incentive for those wishing to travel in First right through their connecting journey, compared to the evening Business and Economy choice only onboard the A330-200.

Not true, they only of J & Y class on the MAN 773ER. EK have had some 773ER fitted with J & Y only. The 773ER sheduled to operate the daily GLA flight is also J & Y only.

When they decided but also cxld the x2 flight to BHX back in 2003 MAN was going to be operated by 772 with a F class section. The advanced bookings were very low so they pulled the idea. It was bookable in the system for good 4-5mths before they changed there mind along with the x2 daily BHX.

Thankfully we now have x2 MAN & x2 BHX I don't think you will find much demand for F class every day out of MAN & BHX.

Quoting WhiteHatter (Reply 7):DXB-MAN-DXB is planned for A380 service at some stage, again cargo being the driving factor. EK Cargo is growing every bit as fast as passenger service.

Whilst I dare say the A380 will end up at MAN at some point, it won't be for cargo purposes as the A380 passenger aircraft will not be very cargo-friendly, certainly not as much as the 777s. With the A380 you still have one lower cargo deck but 2 pax decks so a greater proportion of the available cargo space wil be taken up with baggage leaving much less space for revenue cargo. The pax 747 isn't great for cargo but the A380 will be even worse, particularly as its not the longest of aircraft.

Quoting WhiteHatter (Reply 7):DXB-MAN-DXB is planned for A380 service at some stage, again cargo being the driving factor.

While I don't doubt the A380 will eventually be on the MAN route, as ManchesterMAN already pointed out, it won't be because of extra cargo lift.

The 777-300ER has over 1,000 cu. ft. more underhold cargo capacity than the A380, which allows it to carry 6 more LD-3's than the WhaleJet. Combine that with the fact the A380 will carry 100+ more passengers, and you see why the WhaleJet is not a good cargo carrier.

Quoting Hamlet69 (Reply 11):
The 777-300ER has over 1,000 cu. ft. more underhold cargo capacity than the A380, which allows it to carry 6 more LD-3's than the WhaleJet. Combine that with the fact the A380 will carry 100+ more passengers, and you see why the WhaleJet is not a good cargo carrier.

Volume isn't really such an issue, it's weight. That's why MAN is seeing the 773ER rather than the 773A.

EK seem to be doing quite a bit of high-weight palletised cargo. Especially cars, and expensive cars at that! For some reason I've seen Ferraris going on to EK flights from the UK which have come via dealerships and not been delivered from the factory on a shorter flight. More than the odd Bentley as well. LD3 containers are not an issue with such high weight items.

The A380 is obviously wider than the 773ER and that lends itself well to nonstandard cargo below the passenger floor. That extra bit of clearance can make a lot of difference, and jobs like those carry a considerable premium.

EK once said that they could fly certain of their routes with as low as 10% loading and make a profit due to some of their cargo work. Having higher MTOW aircraft is a bonus to them.

MAN flights are doing extremely well. And yes the primary reason for the 77W on both MAN and GLA is the extra payload capabilities.

MAN will likely get larger aircraft before a 3rd daily gets added. MAN is planned to get the A380 from 2007 (probably late 2007) on the morning departure ex-DXB while the afternoon departure ex-DXB will probably be upgraded to the B77W by then. A third frequency (similar timings to the EK011/012 into LGW or the EK007/008 into LHR) will depend significantly on additional traffic rights to Northern Pakistan as it will drive a lot of that traffic.

Quoting WhiteHatter (Reply 13):The A380 is obviously wider than the 773ER and that lends itself well to nonstandard cargo below the passenger floor. That extra bit of clearance can make a lot of difference, and jobs like those carry a considerable premium.

Are you sure the A380 has more cargo compartment width than the 773ER?

I thought they were about the same, able to carry a standard pallet or two LD3's abreast.

Airplane design is easy, the difficulty is getting them to fly - Barnes Wallis